Protesters make their way down Church Street on the final leg of their protest march through downtown Jacksonville on July 20, 2013. Several hundred protesters gathered in Hemming Plaza before marching through downtown over a variety of grievances including Marissa Alexander’s case. (Bob Self/Florida Times-Union) In this July 20, 2013 file photo, protesters make their way down Church Street on the final leg of their march through downtown Jacksonville demonstrating the verdict in the George Zimmerman trial, the job being done by State Attorney Angela Corey and the sentence received by Marissa Alexander. (Bob Self/Florida Times-Union)

In this Jan. 27, 2015 file photo, an emotional Marissa Alexander gave a prepared statement outside the Duval County Courthouse after being released. Her father Raoul Jenkins (from left) sister Elena Jenkins and attorneys Faith Gay and Bruce Zimet stood by her side in support. (Bob Mack/Florida Times-Union) An emotional Marissa Alexander gave a prepared statement outside the Duval County Courthouse after being released Jan. 27, 2015. Her father Raoul Jenkins (from left) sister Elena Jenkins and attorneys Faith Gay and Bruce Zimet stood by her side in support. (Bob Mack/Florida Times-Union)

Marissa Alexander is free, in every way.

Thursday, Alexander’s home detention ended, the last restriction she faced from firing a shot at her estranged husband that took her from being an unknown mother of three in Jacksonville to a celebrity felon.

Alexander, 36, can now do what she wants, go wherever she wants and speak her mind.

“I’m anxious in so many ways,” Alexander said in an interview with the Times-Union a week before her official freedom. “I’ve been contained since 2011. But I’m excited to have the chance to give back using whatever platform I have.”

Alexander has begun the process of setting up the Marissa Alexander Justice Project. She will be the CEO, and the project will focus on supporting female victims of domestic violence who are caught up in the criminal justice system. It also will be critical of minimum-mandatory sentences like the 20 years Alexander once faced after she was initially convicted of three counts of aggravated assault.

“I just prefer to help and serve,” Alexander said. “From what I’ve been through I know a lot more about the system and how it fits together.”

She has a bird’s-eye view of how the criminal justice system works, and she wants to use that knowledge to help other people.

“A lot of people don’t have a chance from the start,” she said. “I saw that when I was in prison, and I’d like to try to help stop the school-to-prison pipeline.”

University of North Florida associate sociology professor JeffriAnne Wilder, whose work focuses on diversity, race relations and gender issues, said she is looking forward to seeing Alexander become a public figure.

“As a scholar, I see her voice as valuable and credible given the landscape of women’s issues today,” Wilder said. “We are in the midst of another movement, and her organization, her platform and the work that she will do is so timely.”

As a black woman, Wilder said she is also waiting to see how Alexander addresses black women’s incareration (and women of color more broadly), domestic violence, survivorship, gun violence, Stand Your Ground, sexism, black sexual politics and advocacy for black women.

“In my mind, she is positioned quite well to be a face and voice for social justice, change and empowerment,” Wilder said.

Bruce Zimet, who represented Alexander free after her original conviction and 20-year sentence were thrown out, said he’s been impressed with her from the moment he met her.

“I think the path she’s created for herself is the perfect path for her,” Zimet said. “She is a very intelligent woman with a perspective most of us will never have.”

An abusee who refused to be a victim

In person Alexander radiates intelligence and a calm that is surprising. She doesn’t appear angry at what has happened to her.

“I have a completely different perspective on life now,” Alexander said. “Things don’t bother me the way they used to.”

“She handled this all with such grace and class,” Zimet said. “I think there are some people who wish she was angrier, but that’s not her way.”

Alexander’s account is that days after giving birth to a baby girl, her abusive husband, Rico Gray, beat her after they had an argument and she went into the garage to get away. She realized she had left the keys to her car in the house, so she got her gun out of the glove compartment and went back inside.

She said Gray charged at her and threatened violence. She said she fired a “warning shot” to scare him away.

Gray denied abusing Alexander and said she shot at him in anger after he insulted her former husband. Prosecutors insisted it wasn’t a warning shot because it hit the wall behind Gray and not the ceiling. Prosecutors and Gray also said his children were next to him when Alexander fired. She said they were in another room.

Gray originally gave a deposition after Alexander was arrested in which he acknowledged beating her and also said he had beaten other wives and girlfriends. He later recanted that deposition, saying he only said that because he wanted to keep Alexander out of prison and was willing to make himself look like the bad guy to accomplish that.

She was arrested and charged with three counts of aggravated assault and ended up in jail in 2011 after having another altercation with Gray while she was out on bail.

Alexander was convicted, and under Florida law Circuit Judge James Daniel had no choice but to sentence her to 20 years in prison, a sentence Daniel said he disagreed with but had no choice but to impose.

Alexander went on trial in relative obscurity. But between her trial and sentencing, her case generated international attention, largely in response to the George Zimmerman case. The Neighborhood Watch volunteer said he acted in self-defense when he shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin during a skirmish inside a gated community in Sanford. Martin, who was black, was unarmed when he was killed.

After Zimmerman was acquitted of second-degree murder, people started pointing to Alexander’s case as a miscarriage of justice, saying it wasn’t fair she faced 20 years while Zimmerman went free.

Alexander’s conviction was later overturned on appeal because Daniel gave faulty jury instructions. After months of back-and-forth, including the office of former State Attorney Angela Corey trying to revoke her bail, Alexander agreed to a plea deal in November 2014.

She agreed to plead guilty in exchange for a three-year sentence followed by two years of home detention where she could only leave her home for work, school, church and essential appointments such as visits to the doctor. Alexander could pick her child up from school but couldn’t watch her play sports or be otherwise involved.

During that time, Alexander ran a private consulting business, provided services for her church and also worked with a paralegal agency.

No regrets, no animosity

Alexander’s fame is still something she struggles with, rolling her eyes when a reporter tells her she’s famous but also acknowledging the oddity that many people who’ve never met her are familiar with her case.

“The surreal moment for me was getting mail from Great Britain and Australia,” Alexander said.

But the fact that strangers cared enough to protest what was happening to her is something that she will forever remain grateful for, Alexander said.

“I was overwhelmed by people’s connection and humanity,” she said, adding that she hopes to thank more people in person now that she can.

Aleta Alston-Toure, a founder of Free Marissa Now, said Alexander’s freedom is a victory for everyone who cared about what happened to her.

“We had people from all over the world get involved,” Alston-Toure said.

But the victory goes beyond Alexander and shows that people of different races, genders and backgrounds can accomplish great things when they work together, Alston-Toure said.

Alexander can move on with her life. Her divorce from Gray was finalized while she was under home detention, and she says she has no relationship with him today beyond any discussions that must occur over their daughter.

When Alexander was facing a retrial, Zimet attempted to impeach Gray by bringing up his history of abusing women, calling multiple ex-wives and girlfriends who testified at a hearing that he beat them.

Alexander, a college graduate, said she gets questions about why she chose to marry Gray and welcomes them because it’s important to let people know that anyone can be a victim of spousal abuse.

“I am in no way ashamed, but I do understand why people are puzzled by it,” she said. “You don’t plan to be an abused wife. You don’t know everything about your partner when you first meet them.”

She made excuses for Gray’s behavior and didn’t care enough about herself to get out. A mistake she is determined to never make again.

“If I see any sign of something like that, I’m out the door,” she said.

Alexander also said she has no animosity toward former State Attorney Angela Corey, although she smiles when reminded that Corey’s decision to prosecute her may have been one of the reasons she was defeated for re-election.

Many argued that Alexander was treated differently because she was a black woman. But Alexander herself isn’t sure she believes that.

“I didn’t think it was my skin color originally,” she said. “As time went on and my case generated more attention, it began to feel it became personal. Like it was a pride issue for the prosecutors.”

Corey strongly rejected the suggestion that no one was hurt in the shooting, saying Gray’s two children were innocent victims. Alexander reiterated that the children were not in the room when the shot was fired and said she never understood why prosecutors believed Gray over her when he had a history of domestic violence.

“She doesn’t know me and I didn’t take it personally,” Alexander said about Corey. “I wouldn’t say I felt vindicated when she lost, but it was a full-circle moment.”

Alexander said she’s spent the last two years reconnecting with her children. She has 16-year old twins with her first husband and Rihanna.

“They see me as normal me,” she said of her children. “They see me goofy, sad and everything else.”

Alexander isn’t sure what her kids took from what she went through but hopes they’re proud of their mother.

“I hope they’re proud that I’m strong,” she said.

Alexander recently got a tattoo on her arm to commemorate all she’d been through. It includes a phoenix rising from the ashes and a caterpillar turning into a butterfly.

“I now believe what I went through wasn’t punishment, it was preparation,” Alexander said. “I don’t regret it.”

Larry Hannan: (904) 359-4470

TIMELINE

2009

September — Files an injunction for protection against boyfriend Rico Gray following his second domestic battery arrest.

2010

May — Marries Gray

August — Charged with three counts domestic aggravated assault after shooting in the direction of her husband and two stepchildren during an argument.

December — Charged with domestic battery beating her husband in the face, also violating judge’s order to stay away from while out on bond.

November — On the day before Thanksgiving, Judge Daniel granted her $200,000 bail with several restrictions, including having to wear an ankle monitor and being on home detention. She posted bond that night.

2014

January— Prosecutors request bond be revoked for violating home detention by leaving the house at least nine times including to go shopping, driving family members around and seeing sister-in-law. Judge denies this, but lashes out at Sheriff’s Office home-detention supervisor for granting each trip.

July — Daniel denies Alexander’s request for a new Stand Your Ground hearing because she already had one that the appeals court said was handled correctly and was rejected.

November — Reaches plea deal similar to the one previously rejected for three years. She’s credited with 1,030 days time served so will have to spend 65 days in jail followed by two years of house arrest.

2015

Jan. 27 — She’s free from jail having completed three years time served and is officially sentenced under the agreement. Two years house arrest is next.

2017

Jan. 26 — Her home detention ends and she’s officially free.

With a new perspective on life, a humble, resolute and free Marissa Alexander opens up- By